Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Soil Formation

  • Book
  • © 1998

Overview

Authors:
  1. Nico Breemen

    1. Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Peter Buurman

    1. Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-iv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-5
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Why Soil Genesis?

      Pages 7-12

  3. Basic Processes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Soil Physical Processes

      Pages 15-39

    3. Soil Chemical Processes

      Pages 41-80

    4. Biological Processes in Soils

      Pages 81-116

  4. Soil Profile Development

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Studying Soil Profiles

      Pages 119-134

    3. Organic Surface Horizons

      Pages 135-150

    4. Hydromorphic Soils

      Pages 151-181

    5. Textural Differentiation

      Pages 183-202

    6. Formation of Calcic, Gypsiferous, and Saline Soils

      Pages 203-231

    7. Formation of Vertisols

      Pages 233-244

    8. Podzolization

      Pages 245-270

    9. Formation of Andisols

      Pages 271-289

    10. Ferralitization

      Pages 291-312

    11. Dense and Cemented Horizons: Fragipan and Duripan

      Pages 313-324

    12. Analysing Complex Situations

      Pages 325-343

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 345-377
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

Soils form a unique and irreplaceable essential resource for all terrestrial organisms, including man. Soils form not only the very thin outer skin of the earth's crust that is exploited by plant roots for anchorage and supply of water and nutrients. Soils are complex natural bodies formed under the influence of plants, microorganisms and soil animals, water and air from their parent material, i.e. solid rock or unconsolidated sediments. Physically, chemically and mineralogically they usually differ strongly from the parent material, and normally are far more suitable as a rooting medium for plants. In addition to serving as a substrate for plant growth, including crops and pasture, soils play a dominant role in the biogeochemical cycling of water, carbon, nitrogen and other elements, influencing the chemical composition and turnover rates of substances in the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. Soils take decades to millennia to form. We tread on them and do not usually see their interior, so we tend to take them for granted. But improper and abusive agricultural management, careless land- clearing and reclamation, man-induced erosion, salinisation and acidification, desertification, air- and water pollution, and withdrawal of land for housing, industry and transportation now destroy soils more rapidly than they can be formed.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Nico Breemen, Peter Buurman

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Soil Formation

  • Authors: Nico Breemen, Peter Buurman

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-31788-5

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1998

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-017-4140-8Published: 03 October 2013

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-585-31788-5Published: 20 August 2007

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IV, 377

  • Number of Illustrations: 167 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Soil Science & Conservation, Geochemistry, Forestry, Environment, general

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation